We are clearly in TV on DVD season on the home market as there are five TV on DVD releases among the top six selling releases, with Battleship being the only first run release to break up the TV on DVD dominance. There are many such releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week: Boardwalk Empire: Season Two on Blu-ray, Homeland: Season One on Blu-ray, Once Upon a Time: Season One on Blu-ray, and The Walking Dead: Season Two on Blu-ray. However, in the end I went with The Pirates! Band of Misfits on 3D Combo Pack as the Pick of the Week. Meanwhile, Monsieur Lazhar on DVD or Blu-ray earns a rarely awarded Puck of the Week.
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Hugo led a limited number of new releases on top of the Blu-ray sales chart. It sold 523,000 units while generating $14.37 million in sales. This is a good result compared to its theatrical run, but not great given the film's production budget. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 51%, which is fantastic for a family film, although this is not your typical family film.
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This weekend is Thanksgiving and as always that means Black Friday and Cyber Monday plus 48 hours of shopping in-between. And as always, I've already done my Christmas shopping, for the most part. (I'm still waiting to see if the B.C.Lions win the Grey Cup. If not, I'll need to look for an alternative gift.) For everyone else who is still searching, we present the first part in our annual Holiday Gift Guide. As usual, the gift guide is divided into several sections, starting with Major Movie Releases. These are first run releases, franchise box sets, etc. However, before we get into the individual titles, we will start with an update on...
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While it's not common for a box set to lead the way on the Blu-ray sales chart, it is also no real surprise that Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy managed to do just that, as it was clearly the biggest new release of the week. It took top spot with sales of 336,000 units, and thanks to its premium pricing, it generated $25.21 million in opening week consumer spending.
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It's a bit of a madhouse in terms of DVD and Blu-ray releases this week: Amazon.com has more than 400 listed. That said, a lot of them are catalogue titles that would barely warrant a mention during a slow week. The most intriguing first run release is Sucker Punch on Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy Combo Pack, but while I think it's worth picking up, it's appeal is limited enough that it is not worthy of the Pick of the Week honors. Fortunately, one of the catalogue titles is clearly Pick of the Week material. In fact, Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Extended Edition - Blu-ray is one of the most anticipated releases in the history of Blu-ray.
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It was the Thanksgiving long weekend recently and the sales numbers this week include Black Friday. It should come as no surprise that there was an uptick in sales this week, with a number of older releases seeing a massive jump. This includes Toy Story 3, which shot into top spot with 1.27 million units / $21.19 million for the week and 6.78 million / $124.60 million after a month. It is now the third-best-selling DVD of the year.
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Christmas shopping season is in full swing and this week we have the second part of our Holiday Gift Guide. Last week, Part I talked about big first run releases, while this week we look at box sets and TV on DVD releases. When it comes to the latter, this list is limited to Full Series Megasets and the first season of shows that made their home market debut this year, mostly. This is because when it comes to full season sets from the middle of a show's run, they don't really make good gifts, unless the person is already collecting the series. "Here's season three of a great show. You'll have to buy the first two yourself and get caught up before watching this one." Anyhoo, there are still plenty of releases worth giving as gifts this season, starting with...
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It's not a question of whether Spider-man 2 will open big; we all know it will. It's not even a question of if records will fall; we all know that will happen as well. It's a question of how many records will Spider-man 2 break, and by what margin.
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Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section including a surprise selection for my DVD pick of the week, Bubba Ho-Tep - Buy from Amazon.
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Another 7 openings helped keep The Passion of the Christ in top spot with $25.4 million. And the same pattern is holding true, the smaller the market the better the result. In Spain it opened to $3.2 million, about on par with Gothika's opening at the end of February. In South Korea it opened first with $2.3 million, significantly below the local productions that have been taking tops spot for most of the year. So far the film has earned just over $80 million internationally and over $400 million worldwide.
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With no new wider releases the top five international box office finished in the same order as last weekend. The Passion of the Christ again topped the week thanks to number one openings in many markets and even a few records. The biggest slice of its estimated $16 million take came from the U.K. where it finished first, sort of. Including previews its $3.6 was strong enough for first place; if you don't include previews then it drops to third place behind the debut of Dawn of the Dead and the second weekend of Starsky and Hutch. The film again had strong results in small markets breaking records in Argentina and Venezuela. Total international run now sits at $58.7 million in 36 markets, good, but certainly not comparable to its domestic total.
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The Passion of the Christ had mixed openings during its fourth weekend in international release. In Latin America is performed very well, where it made two thirds of its $15 million weekend take, breaking records in Chile and Central America along the way. On the flip side it could only manage a paltry $2.3 million in Germany, half of first place Brother Bear and on par with Gothika's opening earlier in the year. It would have been more impressive if the situation was reversed. After all, record breaking performances throughout Latin American won't earn as much as a blockbuster performance in Germany. Overall Passions has pulled in $32.3 million in 19, mostly smaller markets.
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Without an international breakout hit, the domestic slowdown is still affecting the international box-office. This week a single massive opening in a major market could have put a film in the top five. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But a string of strong openings helped push Along Came Polly into first place with $12.4 million. It's still early in its international run, but with $40.2 million so far and with some big markets left it should beat its domestic total.
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The earlier domestic box office slow down is starting to affect the international box office as no movie could manage $10 million or more at the box office. Compare that to last week when three movies managed that feat. Even winning 11 Oscars didn't help Lord of the Rings: Return of the King's international box office as it dropped 15% to $9.4 million, although that was enough for it to reclaim the weekly crown. Overall its international total is now just shy of $680 million while its worldwide total is nearing $1.05 billion.
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With its 11 Oscar wins and huge jump in theatre count, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King should have had the largest post-Oscar jump at the box office. And while in raw dollars it did, it was the lesser known The Barbarian Invasions that had the biggest percent jump. The Canadian film and winner of Best Foreign Language Film jumped more than 137% at the box office. Its per theatre average also jumped by nearly 40%, compared to the nearly 20% drop by Return of the King.
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When Scary Movie 3 was released domestically during the past fall, many analysts predicted it would fail to attract a sizeable audience. After all, there was a massive 55% drop-off between the first two installments. But the movie out-preformed expectations domestically, and now it's doing the same internationally. Scary Movie 3 earned $12.3 million and a first place finished this past weekend. Its international total is nearing $75 million and it should cross $200 million worldwide relatively soon.
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Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept all the categories it was nominated for in winning a record-equaling 11 Oscars earlier this evening. Here is a list of the winners with reactions to be posted tomorrow.
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The final results are in from our Predict the Academy Awards Competition, and Numbers readers are forecasting a Lord of the Rings sweep at the ceremony tonight.

A stunning 90% of voters are calling for Lord of the Rings to win Best Picture and Peter Jackson to win Best Director - some of the strongest predictions we've seen in the 7 years we've been running the poll.
The movie is also projected to win in every other category in which its nominated.

With no Rings stars nominated for acting awards though, some of the other results are still ripe for speculation.
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Today's Oscar prediction is for one of the more minor categories, which are often harder to predict than the big awards.
But this year, Numbers readers seem to be of one accord on the song destined to pick up the Oscar.
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Every day between now and the Academy Awards ceremony we're predicting the result of one of the categories based on votes in our Predict the Oscars competition.
Yesterday we predicted a safe win for Finding Nemo as Best Animated Feature.
Today we're calling the result for Directing.
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The 10th Annual Screen Actor Guild Awards were handed out on Sunday, and there were a not a whole lost of surprises this year. At least not if you take the Golden Globe awards into consideration.
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Mixed would be the best way to describe the weekend results. With the exception of the number one film, all movies beat Friday's predictions. However, the overall box office was again failed to match last year's pace. Valentine's Day and President's Day helped the 3-day total increase by more than 10% from last weekend, but it was down 14% from last year. The four-day total fared better, but by a barely noticeable margin dropping 13%.
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With both Valentine's Day and President's Day occurring this weekend, there are twice as many reasons to see a movie. And with only one movie opening wide, it should open huge. Holdovers should also perform well given the extra day, but they will have a hard time living up to last year.
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After crossing $250 million international some time during the mid-week, The Last Samurai opened in another 10 markets pushing its weekend total to $17.7 million. Most impressive is the film's run in Japan; it was first in its 10th week of release and it crossed the $100 million mark in that nation. If Ken Watanabe wins the Oscar it should outperform its domestic run in Japan. It is very unusual for a Hollywood film to earn more in a single international market than it earned domestically.
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10 movies opened white in January, and only one movie earned overall postive reviews, (and that movie bombed at the theatres.) The first full weekend in February see three movies opening, two with positive reviews. But it will take a lot to help 2004, which is heading for the largest year-to-year box office drop-off in more than a decade.
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Strong holdovers and a half a dozen smaller openings kept The Last Samurai in first place on the international scene for the third weekend in a row. This week it took in another $23.3 million to raise its total to nearly $250 million internationally. Ken Watanabe's Oscar nomination helped the film's Japanese take rise by 22% from last weekend, and is now just shy of $100 million in that nation.
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There was a surprise upset this weekend for top spot on the charts. But even with the number one film beating expectations by more than $12 million, the overall box office still couldn't meet expectations. Total box office was done 5.2% from last weekend, dropping below the $100 million mark. Year to date 2004 was already down 6% from last year and this weekend didn't help the cause; it dropped 18.4% from last year, but just 5.2% from last Superbowl weekend.
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It's been a while since the prospects for catching a good movie at the theatres was this bad. And it's not like there's lack of wide releases this week. There are three of them. Three wide releases with combined reviews of only 17% positive. In fact, the box office race for top spot should prove more interesting that any of the movies trying to get there.
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The weekend take for The Last Samurai dropped less than expected, just 23% or $31.3 million, and that helped it maintain first place for the second weekend in a row. It also crossed $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide. A mid-February opening in Russia is the last major opening for The Last Samurai, but strong legs in many markets could pull in another $100 million internationally.
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There seems to be a pattern developing for 2004. The number one movie surprises, but the overall box office is lower than expected. This week was no different. The total box office was down from last weekend's 3-day total, which is not surprising as last weekend was a long weekend. But it dropped by a massive 24.7%. The performance compared to last year that is more troubling. Before the weekend 2004 was 7% behind 2003 and at first glance this weekend was almost flat compared to last year, down less than $200,000 or just 0.002%. But this weekend last year was Superbowl weekend, so the performance is really more equivalent to a 10% drop.
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While the Writers' Guild of America hand out more than a dozen awards each year, only two apply to theatrical releases, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Here are the nominations in each of those categories.
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Two movies staring That '70s Show alumnus open this weekend, and while neither of them will be recognized with any major awards, they probably won't light up the box office either. In fact, next weekend isn't looking that spectacular either. The box office should pick up again in February.
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The second round of openings for The Last Samurai in as many weeks helped push it to top spot on the international charts. It more than doubled the number of markets it's playing in while adding almost 70% more screens, but only managed to increase its box office by roughly 25%. The weekend figure of $40.6 million pushed its international total to $157.6 million and its worldwide total to over $250 million. But without many major openings left, its weekly numbers may have peaked.
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The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is usually celebrated by the movie industry by dumping movies that the studios have little faith in, in hopes that the holiday crowds will give it an undeserved boost. This year two of the three new releases beat expectations (at least for the 3-day weekend) and the one that didn't had the best reviews for the week. (I really must stop basing my prediction on quality.) The 3-day total box office was 7% above last weekend, but down 8% from last year. The 4-day yearly decline was about the same.
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With three new movies opening wide this weekend, we should finally have a new number one at the box office. But don't expect it to be number one in the minds of the critics. With Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday we should see a sizeable increase at the box office.
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For the first time since it was released, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had some stiff competition for top spot on the charts. It did still take first place for the fourth weekend in a row with $35.3 million in 51 markets. Including wins in head-to-head competition with second place The Last Samurai. For instance, Return of the King's fourth weekend easily won in the U.K. $6.7 million to Samurai's $4.9 million. It was a closer contest in Germany, but King remained number one $5.5 million to $4.9 million. But with only a couple of mid-level openings this week in Indonesia and the Czech Republic it could drop out of first place next weekend. Its international total $455 million, second for the year surpassing The Matrix Reloaded by less than $1 million and putting it in a virtual tie with The Lion King for 10th all-time. Worldwide it hit $767, which is also second for the year but 13th all-time.
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None of the wide releases were able to mount much of an attack on last weekend's top five. And with the exception of a limited release going wide there was little change. The lack of a dominate opener helped push the total box office lower by more than 25% from last week and 6% from last year. So much for last weekend's strong start to 2004.
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January is usually the time when studios dump movies that looked like a good idea on paper, but didn't pan out. This year looks like no exception as the two new movies are getting destroyed by the critics. In fact, the only film that looks capable of challenging Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for the lead is the wide expansion of Big Fish.
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As it has since it was first released, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had a commanding win at the international box office. This weekend's numbers were $58.7 million from 8,826 screens in 45 territories, more than double Finding Nemo in second place. Highlights include $2.3 million opening in Poland and just shy of $1 million opening in Argentina, as well as $13.7 million in the U.K. and $10 million in Germany. Totals for Return of the King now sit at $390.4 million outside the US (3rd for the year, 13th all-time) and $680.8 million worldwide (3rd for the year, and 15th all-time). By next week it should be the highest grossing film for the year.
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2004 started off with a bang as all movies in the top five beat expectations, although mostly by just a million or two. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King continues to lead and may yet have one more win up its sleeve for next week. This allowed 2004 to get an early jump improving upon last year's pace by more than 9%. There was a considerable drop from last week, but this was not surprising given the return to work / school on Monday. A drop of just 24% was the best week to week drop-off to start the year since 2000 when the box office dropped a mere 14%.
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This week there are no new wide openings, so the top five should look a lot like last weekend. This includes another winning weekend for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The lack of new releases is not uncommon for this time of the year, nor is the number of potential $100 million movies. Of the top five, one has already crossed $100 million and three more could follow.
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Three of the four movies that broke $10,000 per theatre last week also accomplished that feat this week. However, it was a new comer that took top spot. Monster earned over $100,000 since it opened on Christmas day and it had a weekend average of $21,708, which was more than $5000 above its nearest competitor.
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In just a dozen days of release, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King has already accumulated nearly half a billion dollars. And it is still going strong. This week it commanded $84 million from 38 markets, including $12.5 million from both the U.K. and Germany. It already has more than half the total box office of both its predecessors, and it has yet to open in major markets like Japan and Italy. Internationally, Return of the King has pulled in $268 million, just behind fourth place The Matrix Revolutions for the year and 33rd all time. Worldwide, it has $490 million and that's good enough for fourth for the year and 32nd place all-time. By next week, it will be in the top 20 in both.
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No one was surprised that Lord of the Ring: Return of the King remained on top for the second weekend in a row, but most of the new entries did surprise at the box office. It is also not surprising that the box office shot up from last week by over 30%, but the yearly increase was a much more modest 4%. That is less than the average increase in ticket prices.
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There's really no doubt Lord of the Rings: Return of the King will remain number one over Christmas / the weekend. The only real question is how much of last weekend's record breaking performance will it maintain and how well will the other movies fare.
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Taking top spot on the Per Theatre Charts in consecutive weeks is not an easy task, but that's just what Big Fish did this week. And it did it by keeping nearly 80% of its premiere audience landing at $27,440 per theatre. Add in a few awards / nominations and an early January wide release and it could add up to box office hit.
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As expected, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King dominated the international markets this week, setting many records along the way. It played in 28 countries on 7,403 screens earning $125.9 million, which is a record for international weekend. The film also broke individual market records for Wednesday openings in 15 countries, out of 17 Wednesday openings. It also broke weekend records in more than half a dozen other countries, including major markets like the U.K. and Germany. Worldwide totals for Return of the King are already at $250 million, (another record) putting it in 168th place on the all-time chart in just 5 days. Even with this success, it is unlike to unseat Titanic as the number one movie of all time, but it should become only the second film to earn $1 billion worldwide.
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Expectations for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King were huge, but unlike so many other movies with huge expectations that opened this year Return of the King didn't disappoint. A record-breaking performance lead to a huge 59% jump in the box office from last week. But the major letdown in other films led to a 2.3% drop from last year.
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New Line announced today an estimated debut weekend total of $73.6 million for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - the 7th biggest single Friday-Sunday performance in history.
The trilogy finale also scores a host of other records.
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Thursday's box office for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was a little lower than expected at $17 million. That's a drop of just over 50% compared to the little more than 47% predicted. So what does this mean for the weekend prediction? $75 million will still be obtainable, just not as likely. But anything more than $70 million would mean it is still on pace to match earlier predictions.
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While there are two major and a few smaller releases, only one movie is getting talked about this weekend. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King will crush all competition, but there still is some question if records can be broken and how well the other competition will fare.
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During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here is a list of highlights, (including this week's winner Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - Official Site plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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The first figures for Lord of the Ring: Return of the King are in, and they are record breaking. The film earned an amazing $8 million from 2100 midnight showings. That surpasses the previous record of $5 million The Matrix Reloaded took in, however, The Matrix Reloaded needed more than 600 more theatres to do so.
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While the weekend after Thanksgiving is usually soft, the weekend after that usually sees a bit of a rebound. Last year, for instance, we saw a nearly 20% week-to-week increase at the box office. This year we weren't so lucky. No movie in the top five beat box office expectations, while a couple did place higher on the charts due to weaker than expected competition. This led to a drop of nearly 9% from last week and 13% from last year.
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The post Thanksgivings weekend was even tougher on the movie industry than predicted with only one movie in the top five living up to expectations. Some analysts are blaming it on the storm in the Northeast, but the internal multiplier doesn't really support that. And while the box office did drop 40% from last week, it was well ahead of last year to the tune of almost 20%. Year-to-date 2003 is still more than $100 million behind 2002 and with only one movie left that is a sure bet to make that much, catching up is not expected.
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During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here's a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week.More...

During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here's a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue
are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.